Minister_for_Finance_(Ireland)

Minister for Finance (Ireland)

Minister for Finance (Ireland)

Irish government cabinet minister

The Minister for Finance (Irish: An tAire Airgeadais) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland. The Minister for Finance leads the Department of Finance and is responsible for all financial and monetary matters of the state; and is considered the second most important member of the Government of Ireland, after the Taoiseach.

Quick Facts Member of, Reports to ...

The current office holder is Michael McGrath, TD.[1] He is assisted by one Minister of State Neale Richmond, TD.

Overview

Government Buildings, Dublin, is the location of the Department of Finance

The Minister for Finance holds the second most important ministerial position in the Irish Cabinet after that of the Taoiseach. The minister is in charge of the Department of Finance responsible for all financial matters in Ireland. It is one of three positions in the government which the Constitution requires to be held by a member of Dáil Éireann, the other two being Taoiseach and Tánaiste. Many Ministers who have held the Finance portfolio have gone on to become Taoiseach, including Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.

The department and minister are occasionally called the Irish Exchequer (or simply the Exchequer), a term previously used under the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland.

Budget

One of the most important aspects of the Minister's work is the creation of the annual Budget which is announced to the Dáil in a speech, which must be delivered before 15 October due to the Two-Pack agreement. In the budget the Minister details the Government's spending programme for the coming year. The budget consists of:

  • a Financial Statement to the Dáil,
  • Budgetary Measures (a list of budgetary changes detailing the cost/yield of same),
  • Budget statistics, and
  • financial resolutions.

Minister for Finance since 1919

  Denotes acting Minister for Finance
More information Name, Term of office ...
  1. Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.
  2. Also Minister for the Public Service from 1 November 1973, on the creation of the new department.
  3. Also Minister for the Public Service.
  4. Also Minister for the Public Service from 20 January to 20 March 1987, after the resignation of the Labour Party ministers from government.
  5. Also Minister for the Public Service until 20 March 1987, when the functions of the department were transferred to the Department of Finance.
  6. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 6 May 2016 to 27 June 2020.
  7. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 27 June 2020 to 17 December 2022.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, retrieved 17 December 2022
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